Letter to the Editor: Constitutional representation

By PAUL YOUNGSt. George, Utah

Editor,

The United States Constitution is an instrument of the states. The American union is a union of states. The state's Congress in Washington is made up of representatives of the people of each state. There is no prevision in the Constitution for anyone to be a member of Congress but that he or she be elected by the citizens of one of the 50 states.

Federal enclaves, such as the District of Columbia, are not states. To allow a federal enclave to have a voting member in Congress is a violation of the Constitution plain and simple. Anyone who votes to grant voting representation to a federal enclave is voting to violate the Constitution.

The state's elected representatives and Senators in Congress have solemnly sworn before the people they represent should be able to trust that our representatives in Congress will not vote for voting representation for a federal enclave.

So why do Senators Hatch and Bennett support granting the District of Columbia, a federal enclave, a voting member of Congress? Does their solemn oath mean so little to them?